Aurangabad, April 11:
The local crime branch police arrested four members of a gang, stealing batteries from the mobile towers and selling them through a trader from Ahmednagar. One member of the gang is still at large. The police have seized 35 batteries, cash, mobile phones, and truck used in the crime, all amounting Rs 5.61 lakh. The arrested have been identified as Sikandarsingh Shaktisingh Junni (near Alna Company, Gevrai Tanda), Raees Rauf Qureshi (Chitegaon), Tayyab Rashid Shaikh (Nevasa) and Vilas Balasaheb Wani (Kegaon, Ahmednagar) while Jitendrasingh Tak (Gevrai Tanda) is still at large.
PSI, Sandeep Salunke said, an official of the Nisha Securities, Balasaheb Kharabe lodged a complainant at the Chikalthana police station that, in all 44 batteries of a mobile tower at Khodegaon Shivar in Aurangabad tehsil were stolen.
Under the guidance of SP Mokshada Patil and crime branch PI Bhagwat Phunde, the police team investigated the matter and arrested Sikandarsingh Shaktisingh Junni. During interrogation, he confessed that he had stolen the batteries of the mobile towers in various district with the assistance of Jitendrasingh Tak, Raees and Tayyab. They used to sell these batteries through Ravindra Vitthal Unde (Kukana, Nevasa), he told police.
Later, the police arrested Raees and Tayyab and seized a truck (MH 20 CT 9262). They said that they had sold the batteries to Vilas Balasaheb Wani. The crime branch police handed over all the four accused and the seized articles to the Chikalthana police.
The accused confessed that they have stolen batteries from 11 places, including Chikalthana, Gangapur, Shillegaon, Paithan, Bidkin, Khuldabad, Sillod and other places.